Now What?
by sandymg
Summary: Sam has an unexpected new plan for dealing with Lucifer.


**Fanfic****: **Now What? (A drabble)  
**Author: **sandymg  
**Summary: **Sam has an unexpected new plan for dealing with Lucifer  
**Spoilers****: **Set in Season 5. Assumes all canon through _The Real Ghostbusters _5x09  
**Genre****: **Gen  
**Characters****: **Sam, Dean  
**Rating: **Some cursing  
**Disclaimer****: **I don't own Supernatural or any of its characters. They belong to the CW and Eric Kripke -- who'd best treat them well

**Now What? (A drabble)**

Jarred awake, Dean rubbed his face mechanically. _Now what?_ He looked abruptly to Sam on the other bed. It had been a while since his brother had yelled out in his sleep. At one time sleeping through the night and Sam were never in the same sentence. But that had been years ago – when Jessica … anyway, it had been a while. Sam stirred slightly, made another much softer sound and said, "Lucifer."

Dean sat up with a start, every muscle in the ready as adrenaline rocketed up his veins. _Lucifer_. Not so much the name as the tone. _What the fuck?_ Wasn't scared, wasn't angry … sounded … accepting. Oh God. Time to end this. Now.

"Sam. Sam! C'mon wake up, man. You're dreaming." He glanced at the clock – just before seven. They'd gotten in late the night before. Well, he had. Spent some time shooting pool, making them some money to pay for these high class accommodations. The yellow and green striped wallpaper winked at him as a gray shaft of light flittered in through the mostly closed curtains. Looked to be another gloomy day.

Sam rolled over sleepily and opened one eye. "Hey Dean," he mumbled.

"Hey yourself. You okay?"

He watched warily as Sam lifted his huger-than-normal body up from the bed and stretched lazily. Slowly. The motion seemed off. Where were Sam's usually jerky moves? The twitches? The Sam-ness? Swallowing he stood, too, needing some sense of equalness.

Sam looked at him with a soft expression. "I'm fine. I'm sorry if I woke you. But everything's fine. More than fine."

_More than fine?_ Dreaming about that smarmy fork lipped bastard? His anxiety hiked up another notch. "Good," he said. "You, uh, have a bad dream?"

"No Dean. Not at all. Why would you think that?"

Dean stared at Sam knowing that just a few months ago he would have said nothing and gone back to bed. Not anymore. Either they faced it or they wouldn't make it. "Because you said fucking Lucifer's name, that's why."

Sam smiled again. Slow and easy. More like a grin. Then he tilted his head a tad and studied Dean with a combination of interest and pity.

The floor seemed to drop out from under Dean. He wasn't ready. The degree of his unpreparedness hit him like a mallet to his skull. He couldn't move. Was paralyzed where he stood as his heart hammered unnaturally fast and the blood seemed to run down to his feet like a teetotaler who had downed his first whisky. If … no … it wasn't possible. Couldn't be. Not just like that. Not out of the blue and for no fucking reason. Sam …

"I figured it out Dean," Sam said still grinning. "We won't have to worry about Lucifer anymore."

"Why is that?" Dean asked carefully.

"I think I can reason with him. Talk to him. Was doing so now in my dream. And he's not what we all thought. Really, he's just lonely."

You know when something so unbelievable happens that you just blank out? Open your mouth and nothing comes out? Stare like a deer caught in a freakin' high beam? Put those together and add in some LSD and that was what Dean felt like at that moment. "Wh … at?" he squeaked out.

"What I said, Dean. I think I can talk to him and maybe get him on our side."

"You want to recruit the … the Prince of Darkness to our … side?"

Sam smiled again, more broadly this time. His eyes were practically twinkling. "Yes. But it has to be today. I don't think he could be convinced on any other day. You know what today is, right Dean?"

_The day I officially went insane?_ "No."

"Day of Fools," Sam said before bursting in all out cackling laughter.

It took a second because Dean's brain wasn't quite working on all cylinders. But he got it. There was relief first, a drain that threatened to land him flat on his butt. Then he got pissed, fucking pissed. Reeling between crying and slugging he thought the latter made the most sense and pounced on his ginormous son of a bitch brother who'd better freaking stop laughing or he'd yank those girly bangs of his right out of his skull.

"Ow … Dean … stop."

No way, wasn't stopping, was gonna whup his ass from here to Calcutta. "You sonofabitch," he snarled as they wrestled in a mad tangle of arms and legs and shaking grunts mixed with laughter onto Sam's bed. The musky carpet came up to meet him as they tumbled down in a sweaty heap. Sam could not stop giggling as he half-heartedly protected himself by turning sideways on the ground. His brother's hair tickling his lips Dean fought the irrational urge to shut his eyes and sleep all spooned up like they did when they were little kids.

Later, breathing hard and slightly bruised they sat side by side on Sam's bed. "C'mon … admit it .. I punk'd you but good."

"Bitch," Dean snarled.

Sam laughed again.

"I need a drink."

"It's seven in the morning."

"Not everywhere." He ran a hand over his face. "April Fool's Day. Been a while."

For years they'd tried to top each other on this day. The pranks got more elaborate as they got older. Usually, truth be told, Sam got the brunt of it. He'd thought up some pretty sick puppies over the years. The empty, blood soaked bed came to mind. Sam had looked for him for hours. Dean had meant to come back sooner but a pretty girl had caught his eye … good times.

"Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"At first … you thought … you thought I'd said yes, didn't you?"

Dean didn't answer.

"Won't happen," Sam said.

Their eyes met on this. Dean had learned something from his brother's dumbass prank. He wasn't ready. Would never be. "It can't," he said. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath to push it all back down. Then tacked on in a lighter tone, "Can't let the world end, after all. 'S not much but it's all we got Sammy."

"It's enough," Sam said.

It wasn't much but it soothed. Feeling himself return, he gave his brother a big grin and waggled his eyebrows a bit. "You do realize the day is only beginning, bitch?"

Sam smiled. Not creepy, not slow, just Sam. And damn if the day just didn't seem a little brighter.

_**fin**_


End file.
